SA Health investigating a mother's claims against Clare Hospital

ABC NEWS (Australia)

SA Health is investigating, after a single mother claims she and her young son were turned away from an emergency department because she couldn't afford to pay a gap fee.

Transcript

00:00A single mother, working two jobs, with a son in agony.

00:05He spent about an hour just inconsolably crying, the way that I was holding him wasn't working,

00:12I was trying to talk to him, it wasn't working, he was in a lot of pain.

00:15Bianca Dannenberg-Turner rushed her son Charlie to Clare Hospital on Sunday night, after he

00:20complained of pain in his perforated eardrum.

00:23But she says a doctor refused to see the boy, after she told a nurse that she wouldn't be

00:27able to pay the $42 gap for another three days.

00:31I was angry for my son, he was in a lot of pain and I couldn't provide him with any more

00:36help than what I had at home, and yeah, the closest hospital should have been able to

00:43see him.

00:44SA Health claims Charlie was triaged as non-urgent and wasn't refused service.

00:49Like some other regional hospitals, Clare's emergency department runs by pulling in private

00:54doctors from nearby practices, causing attendees to be charged as private GP patients.

01:00SA Health has apologised for a lack of communication around the event, but says the option for

01:05a later payment should have been offered.

01:07The normal practice is that it can be billed and that would have been the option given

01:13to the mother.

01:15Local Liberal MP Penny Pratt says with local cost of living pressures in the community,

01:20SA Health should be bringing salaried doctors into Clare's emergency department.

01:24Bigger hospitals like Port Pirie and Port Augusta have different models where doctors

01:29are permanently available to country hospitals.

01:33I would like to see that for Clare.

01:34To date, the model that we have in place for Clare has been appropriate for the level of

01:41demand.

01:42Health Minister Chris Picton told the ABC the government is working to improve the model

01:46of the regional medical workforce.

01:49For more information visit www.sa.gov.au

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